


Finding the Key

by Goddess47



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Spark Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:34:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24936130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goddess47/pseuds/Goddess47
Summary: Looking for information on protecting the Preserve, there was one last resource... too bad they couldn't read it!
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 1
Kudos: 110
Collections: Full Moon Ficlet Prompt #386: Injure





	Finding the Key

**Author's Note:**

> Okay... I started this for the 'code' prompt, figured I could make it work for 'substitute' and then for 'creep' and I *finally* finished it for 'injure'.
> 
> Phew!

Stiles leaned back heavily, rubbing his eyes. He closed them and lay his head back on the couch. Reading ancient Latin, written by hand, was exhausting.

"Damn. There's nothing in that book, and it was my next-to-last real hope for information!" he moaned.

"You've been through everything?" Derek asked from his seat at the kitchen table. Staying nearby but not on the same piece of furniture was a good plan when Stiles was on a research spiral.

"Everything but that damned Hyden book," Stiles said, not opening his eyes.

"Which one is that again?" Derek asked. 

"It looks like some variant of ancient Latin, but we think it's in a code of some sort," Stiles sighed. "Even Lydia's had a crack at it and we can't find the key to the cipher."

"Have you asked Peter about it?" Derek said. 

"Yup," Stiles replied, popping the 'p'. "We know there's something moderately important in the book, so everyone's had a crack at it."

"Mind if I look at it?" Derek stood up and came over to the wall of bookcases. "Which one is it?"

"Be my guest," Stiles replied, waving a hand. "It's the top shelf, blue book with red and gold lettering."

Derek searched for a moment before pulling a book from the shelf. "This it?" 

Stiles lifted his head for a moment to take a look. "You got it." He lay back again.

Derek came over and put a hand on Stiles' arm, pulling the headache that had started to blossom.

"Okay, this is important but not immediately critical," Derek said gently. "You need a serious break. Go take a shower and I'll heat up some food."

"Mmmm... food...." Stiles groaned. 

"Shower first," Derek said firmly. "Otherwise you'll fall asleep before I get a meal in you."

"Awww.... Carewolf," Stiles murmured.

Derek smirked. "And you're pretty stinky," he replied. "Go. Take a good shower."

Stiles opened one eye. "A _good_ shower?"

"If you think you can stay awake long enough," Derek replied with a smile.

"With that as an incentive..." Stiles murmured. Then yawned.

"Go, before you fall asleep there," Derek urged. "I've made goulash."

"With bacon?" Stiles asked.

"Of course!" Derek replied.

The shower woke Stiles up enough to be able to appreciate a hot meal. And, hopefully, some sexy times. Then a solid night's sleep would be perfect.

Derek put the pan on the table between them. "Help yourself," he said as he poured iced tea for each of them.

Stiles took a large scoop of the goulash and put it on his plate. He put a forkful in his mouth and moaned. "Oh, this is just what I needed!"

Derek pushed a plate with rolls on it toward Stiles. "They're out of the freezer, but I heated them up for you."

"Mmmm..." Stiles grabbed a roll and slathered butter on it. 

It didn't take long for Stiles to inhale the food. He drank another glass of iced tea and patted his stomach. 

"Thanks! That was good!" Stiles said. And yawned again. "Damn... I wanted to take you up on some sexy times, but I'm beat."

"Go and lay down while I put everything away," Derek said. "We can at least cuddle."

Stiles leaned in for a soft kiss. "Hopefully, I can stay awake that long."

"No problem," Derek grinned. "I know where you live."

Stiles laughed as he went off to bed.

He did fall asleep before Derek crawled into bed with him. Stiles woke to see Derek still sleeping and lay there, just watching. Derek always looked younger and less careworn when he was sleeping.

"You're staring," Derek mumbled. 

"Got it in one," Stiles agreed. "Let me use the bathroom, and I'll be right back."

Stiles peed and brushed his teeth and quickly made his way back to the bed. Derek was sitting up on the edge of the bed and made his way to the bathroom. A few minutes later, Derek joined him.

"I think I was promised some sexy times," Stiles wriggled closer to Derek.

"Oh, you were, were you?" Derek grinned. 

It was a couple hours later before they got out of bed again. They shared the shower, making Stiles glad that Derek had made sure to have an oversized shower installed when they rebuilt the house. 

Over lunch, it really was too late to call it breakfast, Derek asked, "Tell me something about that Hyden book."

"Like what?" Stiles asked.

"What do you know about it? Where does it come from?" Derek elaborated.

"We don't know a lot," Stiles admitted. "It's definitely not as old as some of the other books, in fact it seems to be from the 1940's or so. The bindings imply it's probably from Eastern Europe, maybe Germany."

Derek nodded. "Okay, that's the impression I had when I looked at it. Did anyone consider that maybe it was written in Hebrew?"

Stiles felt his jaw drop. "Oh, my god, that would explain why we're having so much trouble deciphering it."

Derek shrugged. "Being written right to left instead of the left to right we're used to would throw you off completely."

"Exactly!" Stiles agreed. He dug out his phone and selected the entry for _CreeperWolf_. He pressed the dial button.

"Yes, Stiles," Peter drawled. "To what do I owe this interruption in my life?"

Stiles grinned. "Derek had a brilliant thought. I'm running out of ideas for the runes to protect the Preserve, and the only book I haven't been through is the Hyden book since no one's been able to decode it."

"I'm aware," Peter agreed.

"What if it's written in Hebrew?" Stiles asked. Then waited.

"That's... actually a good thought," Peter said slowly. "Yes, that's probably an excellent thought."

Stiles danced in his chair, waving his free arm.

"Do we know anyone who knows Hebrew?" Stiles asked. "Going to admit that is new to me."

"I know someone," Peter said. "I'm assuming you have a digital version of the book."

"Of course," Stiles admitted. "I'll send it to you and you can share it with your person. What's this going to cost us?"

"Letting them keep a copy of the translation should be enough," Peter admitted. "It's not a well known work and, from what we do know, it shouldn't have anything dangerous in it. It's supposed to be about protection, so we'll have to take our chances with that."

"Okay," Stiles agreed. "That works for me. Thanks! I'll have that off to you shortly."

"Tell Derek he did good!" Peter said. 

From the way Derek's ears turned red, he could hear Peter's compliment.

It took another ten days before they got the translation back.

"It was a relatively simple substitution cipher," Peter said. "It was the modern Hebrew that was the key to it all. The author probably used a dual language Hebrew and English typewriter and then re-coded the text with the substitution cipher."

"Do you think it will have what I'm looking for?" Stiles asked.

"That I don't know," Peter admitted. "Your Spark takes some of the esoteric information and makes something new out of it. So only you can tell if it will be useful."

"Yeah," Stiles laughed. "I was hoping this one time there'd be a _this is how to protect the Preserve_ flag so I don't have to fly by the seat of my pants this time."

"Good luck!" Peter said.

"Thank your friend for me," Stiles said.

"Will do," Peter agreed.

Stiles set to working through the translated text. As he figured, there was nothing obvious, but there were a couple of entries that indicated the author had successfully put wards about a large tract of land. Now he had to figure out how they had done it.

Another five days later, Stiles asked, "Derek? Come out to the Preserve with me? I'd like to try something."

"Is it safe?" Derek asked warily.

"Hey! I only injured myself that one time!" Stiles protested. "And that was an accident."

"You were _trying something_ then, too," Derek pointed out. "Tell me more about what you're going to do."

Stiles sighed. "Okay, it's like this..." Stiles outlined his plans and was honest about the places that were sketchier than the others. "I figure if we start with a smaller area first, that will tell me if I'm on the right track. But it needs to be an uninhabited area, since people will make it fail. It should ignore animals, but pick up humans and supernatural beings."

"What about you and me, then?" Derek asked.

"We'll be the focus for the runes," Stiles said. "Any notifications will come to us, so we would need to be there to tie ourselves to the wards."

"This isn't going to be a drain on your magic, will it? If it's tied to you and me, will we be constantly aware of it?" Derek frowned. 

Stiles grinned, knowing Derek was simply being protective.

"It's more passive than that," Stile said. "The wards will be powered by the land being protected, so we won't need to do much. It just needs to be able to tell us that something is going on."

"Okay," Derek agreed. "A really small area first, then. How can we test it?" 

"First we can have the pack see if they can find the space we've warded," Stiles replied. "Then we can organize a training exercise for the 'wolves. Some broken bones and minor blood spillage should set off notifications."

"Okay, sounds good," Derek agreed. "When did you want to go?"

Stiles moved close and kissed Derek. "You're the best!"


End file.
